Janie and I must have been very keen to see this one – a rare sojourn to the South Bank on a Friday evening for us. In those days we still found it hard to finish our work on a Friday and get to a place like the National Theatre in good time. We had both strategically kept the afternoon light, appointment-wise, I can see.
I believe we saw a preview at the Cottesloe, but the production had already stormed-it at Edinburgh a few week’s earlier.
I liked it, Janie hated it.
Split jury. That said, I recall that we were both a little disappointed by this play/production. Not that I thought it was poor – I liked it – but I recall us both thinking that it didn’t quite live up to the hype.
Fine cast, direction and production, as you might expect. Billy McElhaney, Michael Moreland, Michael Nardone, and Maurice Roëves starred, John Tiffany directed. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.
Charles Spencer gave the Edinburgh run a glowing review in the Telegraph…
Gagarin, Spencer Telegraph 10 Aug 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
…as did Susannah Clapp in The Observer:
Gagarin Clapp Observer 12 Aug 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Roll the clock forward a few weeks and a few hundred miles south. Michael Billington somewhat summed up why he felt that Gagarin Way didn’t work so well just a few weeks later at The National.
Gagarin Billington Guardian 6 Oct 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard echoed those Billington sentiments:
Gagarin de Jongh Standard 4 Oct 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com